Thankful. :)

I have so much for which to be thankful.  Even if I were to list everything that came to mind, I know I'd still overlook/leave out/take for granted/etc. hundreds of blessings in my life.  But I won't let that stop me from naming just a few of the obvious.

I am so, so thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for the education my children are receiving and for the schools they attend.  And I'm thankful for my job:  thankful that I enjoy it, thankful that it is close to home and close to my kids' schools, and thankful that I can take time to participate in some of the "stay-at-home mom" stuff that happens with my awesome kiddos.

Last week, I had the awesome opportunity to attend Thanksgiving celebrations for both Harris and Hadley.  On Wednesday morning, I made it over to Freeman's Mill for the "Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast." 

The entire Kindergarten population paraded into the cafeteria on Wednesday morning to find a feast waiting for them!  I guess celebrating Thanksgiving with turkey, corn, rolls, applesauce, popcorn (?), and brownies at 9:30 in the morning is as good a way to celebrate as any! 

The kiddos were dressed as Pilgrims and Indians and performed a funny Thanksgiving song for the parents.  And then they chowed down while all the adults watched.  It's such a hoot to watch Harris at school:  he has TONS of friends and smiles and waves and talks to everyone.  I have no idea what happened to my shy little guy, but I am so thankful he feels so comfortable at school.

Every student had a particular place setting at their lunch table.  Below is Harris'.  I'm pretty sure he's the only one who wrote his last name. :)

He's a mess.

I had to head back to work before his class left the cafeteria, but it seems like a good time was had by all.

And Wednesday morning wasn't the only day the Kindergarteners spent in celebration!  On Thursday, Ben (and me-briefly!) got to join Harris for the "Thanksgiving Lunch" prepared in the school cafeteria.  It's been a long time since I've eaten in an elementary school cafeteria.  What a rite of passage that is!

On Friday, I was able to head over to Primrose to enjoy a Thanksgiving lunch with Babe.

Her class also performed a couple of songs for us parents.  Hadley's favorite Pre-K song, by far, is "A-Toodie-Ta," and she was stoked for me to watch her sing it with her class.  So stoked, in fact, that she told her teacher earlier in the week that I was going to get up and sing with her!!  God bless Ms. Audra for allowing me to sit that one out. :)

Watching Babe interact at school is crazy fun, too.  She is the epitome of the word "silly."  She LOVES to laugh and loves to make other people laugh.  And she certainly doesn't shy away from attention.  She, too, is quite a hot mess.

The Primrose "feast" included food for everyone.  Primrose, as always, provided turkey and dressing for the class and us parents filled in the rest.  There was quite a spread!  Babe chose to contribute green beans and was very proud of my effort in preparing them.  I'm thankful that she is easy to please. :)

Her place setting included a list of things for which she was thankful, including:  having food, being with my momma, playing with my momma, tickles, and salsaltio turkey." 

Guess I need to buy the girl some salsalito turkey.

Thank you, Ms. Audra, for making Babe's first school experience fantastic!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Tooth!!!!

He lost his first tooth tonight.

It's been loose forever...at least a month.  He was willing to let us touch it every once in a while, but really hadn't shown much interest in messing with it or pulling it out. 

Tonight, though, he didn't have a choice.

He was acting like a kangagroo on his way from the shower to his bedroom.  Evidently, he had his towel in his mouth.  He took a "kangaroo" hop and tripped on the bottom part of the towel.  When he landed, he knew right away that the tooth was ready to come out.  He yelled to us and we came running.  Ben volunteered to pull it for him, but Harris said he'd do it himself.  And he did.

And then he saw the blood.  And then he saw his bleeding gum in the mirror.  And then he freaked out.

But just for a second.  We convinced him the blood was because he fell, he let us wash out his mouth, and then he had a BLAST squirting water through his gaping hole. :)

He is highly anticipating his visit from the tooth fairy.  I wrote her a note to ask if she'd let me keep his tooth.

I'm pretty sure she will.

Big Girl.

We gave this girl her first cup of cow's milk yesterday.  I can't believe she'll be ONE in less than a month!!!!!!

While I wouldn't say she loved the cow's milk (she's a big fan of the WARM bottle), she didn't exactly hate it, either...and, in fact, did a great job drinking it today.

Part of me knows I need her to be as independent as possible when Thatcher is born, and the other part of me isn't ready for her to grow up yet. 

Oh, my heart.

LegoLand.

To celebrate Election Day this year, we decided to head down to Phipps Plaza to check out the LegoLand Discovery Center.

The kids had an absolute blast!!!

Ben and I both left with a headache.

Because Election Day is a school holiday around these parts (the schools are used as polling places), I find that it's a GREAT time to check out some of the major attractions around the city.  Places that typically draw large crowds are rather slow on Election Day, and LegoLand helped prove my theory.

Even with the light(er) crowd, though, I still wasn't impressed.  The kids and Ben rode both the "rides," we watched the 4D movie and took a quick trip through the model city, and then the kids played in play area and built a couple of lego structures.  Babe actually enjoyed the toddler area the best.

In my opinion, the website was a little deceiving.  And I am so, so thankful we scored tickets through our My Coke Rewards points...I can't imagine paying full price to visit.

At least the kids had a good time.  They've already asked when we're going back.  So, if anyone out there is looking for a couple of kids to take down to LegoLand, I'll gladly volunteer mine. :)

At least I scored a visit to The Cheesecake Factory out of the day.

And had absolutely no wait to vote.

It really is the little things...

Glasses.

He chose those.  Picked them out and paid for them.  And wears them with pride.

And So It Begins...

My favorite part is that he wrote her sign for her.  And helped her tape it on her door. :)

Hoedown!

About a week ago, the PTA at Harris' school hosted their fall fundraiser, which happened to be a hoedown.  It was awesome!!!

Kids could purchase cowboy hats and bandanas, a DJ played tons of great music in the decorated gym, Papa Jack's catered BBQ and a decent dessert table, and they even had pony rides! 

The kids had so much fun running around and yelling, "howdy, pardner" and calling Ben, "boss."  Speaking of Ben, he was asked to host the scarecrow auction (his auctioneer skills are becoming well known!) and did an awesome job.

All the money raised is going toward the purchase of new playground equipment, so it was a pretty exciting night.

Hadley TORE IT UP on the dance floor and can't wait to participate in the "Kindergarten dance" next year.  Harris was a bit shy about dancing but loved running after his friends and playing pin-the-tail on the horse.

The pony rides were a big hit, too. 

Sweet Emmy enjoyed the view from her stroller.  She really is such a laid back baby!

It was such a fun evening...and far exceeded our expectations!  We're already counting down the days until next year!